Chapter 165: Hero Helping... Again? (12)
Edited by: Kuro and Lille
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With the death of the Demon King, their body slowly disintegrated into the air, leaving behind an ominous purple orb. Every Demon King dropped this orb and it was always absorbed by the Holy Sword to signify the end of the current Demon King.
Faylan was the first to run over to Evelyn and brought her into a big hug. "You did it, Evelyn! You really did it!" She was so happy that she couldn't control herself and began jumping up and down in excitement.
Evelyn was still a bit shocked, so even though she reached out to hug Faylan, she didn't move much.
Grey was also happy, but his job was not done just yet. He picked up the Demon King's core and handed it over to Evelyn.
"Evelyn, you have to let the Holy Sword absorb this core. After you do, you must leave the mountain with everyone else, do you understand me?"
Even if Evelyn didn't want to leave Grey behind, she knew that Grey had something to do and they would only get in his way if they tried to stop him or come with him.
"I understand. Remember your promise. You must come back safely."
She took the Demon King's core and brought it up to the sword. Everyone watched the sword absorbing the core, really emphasizing that they did, in fact, kill the Demon King, and their part in this quest was over.
Once all of the core was absorbed, the mountain began to rumble. The walls inside the opening began to crack and bits of rocks fell, hitting their bodies and the floor.
"Get out of here now! I will meet all of you outside!" Grey shouted and hugged Azul, pushed him forward, and then ran toward the throne that had cracks all over it. It started to crumble and showed a secret passageway.
The others began to run out of the opening. They gave one last look to Grey and saw pure white wings unfurl from his back.
*****
When his wings were ready, he launched himself off the ground and flew into the secret passage. It was just a long set of stairs that he bypassed.
With the shaking of the mountain, pieces of loose rocks came tumbling his way. He had to dodge the incoming debris and fly his way to the top of the mountain. The only way to access the top of the mountain was by these sets of stairs, or by flying.
It took him a few minutes, but he was finally able to leave the inside of the mountain and arrive at the summit.
The summit wasn't very large but the crystal housing the Fallen God was quite massive, taking up a third of the summit.
Inside, Grey could see a man standing in the crystal. He looked a bit similar to the Demon King but he was fully unclothed. His hair was white and long, reaching his ankles. His arms were crossed over on his chest like he was delicately placed in a coffin.
The air was extremely heavy at the summit. It was so heavy that Grey could not use his wings to fly over, so he safely landed on the ground. He began to walk over, his steps feeling as though someone was trying to hold his legs down.
He took his time, slowly moving his feet one after the other until he made it to the crystal. The crystal was extremely cold to the touch, but he ignored the sensation as best as he could and closed his eyes.
His hands began to glow with a tremendous amount of power. Grey was trying to purify hundreds of years of hatred and sadness. He could feel all of the Fallen God's emotions that were trying to keep him away from the crystal.
[Don't give up, Grey.] The God of Love and Fertility, Ethenea's, voice echoed through his mind. [I will lend you my strength so that you can help bring him back to us.]
[As will I.] The God of Creation, Xepherim, chimed in. [Brother, we miss you, so please come back to us.]
All the other Gods came in, voicing their love for the God of Death and Dreams who became a Fallen God. They welcomed him with open arms, hoping that he would see how much they cared for him and wanted him to finally come back.
"Can't you see? Everyone is waiting for you to come back, so stop fighting me!" Grey shouted at the God inside the crystal. He was unsure if the Fallen God could hear him but he still tried to talk with him.
"They have been waiting for you all this time. Waiting for you to finally return to them. I know you became this way because of humans, but you should know that even if there are bad humans out there, there are plenty of good ones. Many care about this world, care about other people, and strive to help others. This world is not just bad and there are so many good things out there! That's why, you mustn't let hate consume you because you will be left with nothing in the end…"
It felt like Grey's hands were freezing over but he didn't care. He pushed as much heavenly power as he could into the crystal.
He could only hope that the Fallen God heard him.
Several seconds later, a large crack began to form in the crystal. It first started small but became bigger and bigger as Grey stubbornly pushed heavenly power into the crystal.
As the crack got larger and larger, the coldness in his hands began to subside. He felt like he could move his hands again as warmth started to seep in.
When Grey felt he was drained of all the heavenly power his body could store, he stepped back, hoping that it was enough.
And it was.
A bright light came out of the crystal, lighting up the sky. It could be seen from the other side of the continent. The giant crystal began to crumble and the man floated downward. His eyes were still closed, but he was finally released. The light from the crystal stopped when he was free from the crystal.
When he opened his eyes, he looked over at Grey and smiled. Even though his mouth moved, Grey couldn't hear what he said, but somehow he just knew that the God of Death and Dreams said 'thank you.'
After that, the God reached out his left hand toward the sky. A translucent feminine figure emerged, grabbing onto his hand. Grey knew it was Ethenea, coming to pick up her lover whom she hadn't seen for hundreds of years.
She turned to Grey. "Thank you, Grey, for helping us bring him home. We will give you your present soon. Until then, enjoy your time in this world. We will bless you and Azul with lots of love and happiness."
With that, she took the God of Death and Dreams with her and they both floated up to the heavens.
With them gone and the crystal destroyed, the giant dark clouds slowly dispersed, making the once-purple sky turn blue.
Ethenea blessed the land of the former Demon Continent, so life quickly came back to the land. Grass, plants, and trees began to spring up from the ground. All the demons and mutated monsters influenced by the crystal began to disappear as well, leaving behind magical beasts, monsters born from magical energy, and wild animals.
The world could see that the looming dark clouds and purple sky from the Demon Continent were replaced with white clouds and blue skies. The sun seemed to come back on that side of the continent.
Grey was tired and relieved that the air felt clearer and not as heavy as it was before. He took a deep breath and ran towards the cliff, ready to jump off.
Luckily, they let him keep his wings until he was able to land safely at the base of the mountain.
As he was flying, he heard System 225 congratulating him on completing the main mission. With this, he officially completed the S-ranked world. At least he was able to relax for the rest of his life span here.
As for Evelyn, Azul, Vincent, Faylan, and Aeneas, they were able to escape the mountain and waited at the base, hoping that Grey would come back soon.
They were able to see the changes in the Demon Continent firsthand. They saw the ground around them change from dust to fertile soil. Trees, plants, and grass seemed to sprout from the ground as though they were always there, just hidden. The howls of mutated monsters and demons were no more and they were replaced by birds and other wild animals that seemed to sing about the return of nature.
When they looked up, they saw someone descending from the mountain at a decent pace. This being had wings on its back, looking like an angel descending from heaven.
As the being got closer, everyone could see that it was Grey, coming from the summit to join them.
Azul ran over, reaching out his arms to help Grey to the ground. Grey happily landed in his arms, hugging him but he was also exhausted. When he made it safely to the ground, his wings disappeared, feathers floating upwards into the sky, never to be seen again. He used up all of his energy purifying the Fallen God and destroying that giant crystal. He no longer wanted to move.
Even though he couldn't move that much, he still looked over at Evelyn. "I completed the promise, so no need to take my pinkies."
Evelyn felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she still raced over to hug him. Everyone began to run over to him, surrounding Azul and Grey in a giant group hug. There were a lot of tears and joyful waves of laughter, but they finally did it. Not only did they kill the Demon King and make it out alive, but for the first time, the Demon Continent returned to how it was hundreds of years ago.
As they celebrated, the world would later know this moment as the start of a new beginning for everyone.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
MakusCorner
MakusCorner Grandpa Marky: There's one more chapter after this one. It's just to close the arc. Then there will be two chapters for the ending. After that, the extras :D
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